


Dead Like Me

by ashyyy_xoxo



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Death, Grim Reapers, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 06:51:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5858650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashyyy_xoxo/pseuds/ashyyy_xoxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The undead, or as they're more commonly known as 'Grim Reapers' job is to remove the souls of people, preferably just before they die, they then escort them until they move on into their afterlife. </p><p>For the last 10 years Grim Reaper Louis Tomlinson has had the soul of Harry Styles assigned to him 8 times, how the boy has postponed his death that many times is beyond Louis.<br/>He'd like to say he doesn't really care but that would be a lie, he's fascinated by the boy he's never spoken to.</p><p>Harry Styles could be considered either lucky or unlucky it depends on how you look at it, at 20 years old he's already narrowly missed both seriously injuring himself and death countless times. He's simply just a clumsy person and his mother has always told him he must have someone pretty special looking over him.</p><p> </p><p>*Based on the tv series Dead Like Me*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

 

The undead, or as they're more commonly known as 'Grim Reapers' job is to remove the souls of people, preferably just before they die, they then escort them until they move on into their afterlife.  
One becomes a reaper by being the last sould collected when one's own reaper meets his or her secret quota (every reaper has a quota and once they've collected enough souls to reach this quota they move on and the last soul they collected takes they're place as a reaper)

 

Death is everywhere, there's no escaping it, its happening whether you like it or not, when, where and how are simply just out of your control. Of course there's the leading courses of death worldwide, you have 'The Big Three'

1\. Infectious and Parasitic Disease

2\. Circulatory System Disease

3\. Malignant Neoplasms

 

But those aren't the Grim Reapers problem, the undead are assigned to a specific divisions, Liam and his boys division is 'external influence' translation;

1\. Murder

2\. Suicide

3\. Accident

4\. Gravelings  
⦁ They're the ones who make the "accidents" happen

 

Death has a list of who is scheduled to die and when, this list is delivered to the head of each division, in this case its Liam. The head reaper of each division will then give each reaper a non-transferable assignment to collect a particular soul or souls. 

If a reaper refuses to take a soul at their place of death and the person somehow survives their appointed time, the soul will whither and die and rot inside them. If a reaper does not take a soul and the person does die, the soul remains trapped in the body and is subject to extremely traumatic experiences such as witnessing the autopsy of their own body.

However sometimes completing an assignment isn't always easy,the reaper will only receive three points of information in order to find the soul they need to take.

1\. The First initial and last name of the person about to die

2\. The location of which their death will occur

3\. The estimated time of death (ETD)

The only time a death can be postponed (at least temporarily) without the risk to the soul's well being by interfering well in advance of the time of death, thus reapers would not be interfering with the events that lead to the death. However this can sometimes have unintended consequences, such as other people dying because of actions taken by the person who should have died.

  
Liam has always been very level headed both when he was alive and as an undead. He took to being a reaper surprisingly well [after 23 years of living without a purpose he finally found what he was destined to do, its probably a shame it was as a result of his death.] It's probably why he ended up being head of his division, which after being with them for 10 years he sometimes wishes he wasn't. Liam can't complain really,it could be worse.

Firstly there's Zayn although forever the mysterious one is the easiest to deal with, once he eventually shows up in the morning that is, all Liam needs to do is hand over his list for the day, and then he can leave him to it until they regroup that evening. Zayn is simple, and Liam likes simple.

Then there's Niall also isn't exactly hard work, sure it can take a little longer for him to get his head in the game and focus properly, but Niall's harmless really. People can't help but love Niall which makes his job a lot easier. That isn't to say Niall doesn't have mysterious ways, although it sometimes feels like he's an open book he aways manages to never really give anything away about his life before the undead.

Lastly there's Louis, now Louis is Liam's worst nightmare, he loves the boy he really does but he's a little shit, There's no other way to put it. Louis doesn't like to take things seriously he didn't when he was alive and doesn't now, there's no changing him. Getting Louis to focus on anything is a struggle but that doesn't mean he isn't good at his job. Louis knows what he's doing, he's probably the best out of the four of them. They all have feelings, even mysterious Zayn, and when you're a reaper feelings sometimes get in the way, Louis' the best at dealing with the hard cases, he's compassionate and kids love him which is why he normally gets what everyone else would consider the short straw, He gets the young ones which means it can be anything from an infant to an 18 year old, the ones who really don't deserve to be dying so young.


	2. Chapter Two

 

Why Liam has to do the morning meetings so early has always bothered Louis, he has never really been an early riser, it's why he didn't get a job after being an undead, Niall's the only one of them thats actually got a job now, Liam and Zayn have always got their money in other ways, so Louis decided to follow in their footsteps.

Once again they're all waiting for Zayn at their usual booth in the 24 hour cafe they always gather at. It's out of the way from the bussiness that is Oxford Circus but still close enough that they could always make it there easily.

"What did I miss?" Zayn asks finally dropping down into his usual space next to Louis

It's always been the same Niall tucked up in the corner still half asleep after not long finishing his late shift at the bar, Liam next to him his folder of assignments already laid out on the table, and then Louis and Zayn on the otherside.

"Nothing you know we're not aloud to start until the whole class is pressent that's Mr Payne's rules" Louis jokes as he sips his Yorkshire tea

Its a running joke they all have, they mostly do it just to annoy Liam.

"what have I told you about calling me that Lou" Liam sighs "But now that we are all here I have your assignments, its a busy day today

"I miss the days when it was just one assignment each" Niall sighs

Niall isn't the oldest reaper Liam firmly takes that spot, but he has been around for a while, it's all to do with how the quota's work, some reapers have larger quotas than others. Louis' the youngest reaper out of the four of them, he doesn't mind though cause he's the eldest by living years. He was 25 when he died, and you dont really count once you're undead but he'd be 60 by now. In reality 35 years isn't exactly a short run for a reaper but with Liam nearing his 60th it seems a lot shorter.

"Could be worse" Zayn points out "We don't have nowhere near as many as other groups"

The four of them tend to stick around London, its easier to blend in. People don't tend to notice you haven't aged in the last 10 years. They change their base obviously or people would get suspicious,but its normally the same sort of thing, some cafe or diner somewhere in the back roads of london. 

"Enough complaining it is what it is we can't change that" Louis shrugs

"Right Zayn you've got three today" Liam says as he hands over the laminated sheet of Zayn's souls for the day

It's his thing, He likes to keep every soul his group has ever taken. He has a folder for each of them, likes to keep the laminated sheets in there. They don't really know why he does it and they've learnt to not question Liams quirks, they just let him get on with it.

It took a while for Louis and Liam to get on when Louis took place of Josh - Louis used to argue it was because Josh was one of Liam's favourites - but in reality they butt heads a lot simply because they were just different people. Louis will never forget the first time he lost his laminated sheet, he was sure Liam was going to disown him. They've worked out their differences though, Louis tends to not push Liam's buttons too much and Liam's learnt to keep a spare sheet for Louis. Nowadays It's hard for Louis to imagine having to do this without Liam and the boys.

"Well thats me then, I have an appointment with an E. Matthews in about 8 minutes" Zayn throws on his leather jacket "One of these days I'll actually have time to get breakfast"

In typical Zayn fashion he's quick to leave without much of a goodbye.

"Come on Li lay it on me" Niall sighs finally sighting up a bit straighter

"It's four today Ni" he slides Niall's sheet to him

"Jesus its always me" Niall groans

"Your first isn't until 3 so just be thankful you can go have your nap" Louis says as he reads Niall's list from across the table

"Lou you've got two" Liam says as he hands over Louis' sheet 

"Are you fucking kidding me " Louis huffs as he glances down at his two names

 

⦁ J. Joyce - Tottenham Court Road - ETD 13:47

⦁ H. Styles - Brompton, Sloane Square - ETD 17:06

 

For the past 10 years Louis has been given H. Styles on his sheet 8 times. He's learnt that his name is Harry Styles and that he's got to be the luckiest person ever.  
He was 10 years old the first time. Louis was there waiting but he never turned up. Its not uncommon with the younger ones, kids change their minds so easily, sometimes that means they miss their appointment, and when thats an appointment with death its not too bad to miss.  
Louis has never strictly met Harry, always manages to narrowly miss him. He's seen the back of his head and he's seen him from a distance, hell he's bumped into him before but he's never spoken to him. Feels wrong to strike up a conversation with someone if you're the one thats going to take away their soul when they die.

"Look Lou Im sorry but you know the rules, assignments are non transferable"

"Well Liam I think that rule should be void if the soul is still alive 10 years later" Louis doesnt normally judge people before he knows them but he really hates Harry bloody styles right now

"sucks Lou it does, the guys been following you around for ten years but you cant deny that he's intriguing. I don't know what he's been doing to miss eight appointments but whatever it is has saved his life, sure its giving you a hard time but thats another soul getting some extra time and you can't be too sour about that " its typical Niall always finding a way to find the good in a situation

"I agree with Ni, if he had made his first appointment he would've died before reaching double figures, hell the boys lucky he made it past 18, you've had two years without seeing him maybe today is his day"

Liam doesn't need to remind Louis how young Harry is to have already had eight appointments with death, but after not having a H. Styles assignment in two years he was kind of hoping the kid would live until he was 80, but apparently he was only destined for 20, well thats if he actually makes his appointment this time.

"Why not try to get to know the boy" Niall offers "You like to talk so why don't you actually talk to him, might learn something about how he's been skipping death for ten years"

"Because I don't think its polite to start having a bonding session with someone when you're about to take their soul" Louis snaps

"Lou maybe Niall's right. You talk to all your other reaps why not try to get to know Harry, for all you know maybe the reason he's never made his appointment is because you're meant to be apart of it"

"Liam I am not going to be the person he leads him to his death, if he's meant to die he'll die im not getting involved"

"Well I suggest not lurking in the shadows this time, have you ever even got close enough to be able reap the boy" Louis knows what Niall's trying to do, he's trying to get a rise out of Louis to try and trick him into talking to Harry well Louis would like to say its not working, but it kind of is.

"I could talk to him if I wanted to, and you know what I will." Louis huffs "today is the day I finally know why this boy have been determined to miss his appointment eight bloody times"

"Good for you Lou" Liam chuckles "well I have a reap to do so I'll see you boys back here tomorrrow"

Liam doesn't hang around, he's the sort of reaper who likes to be there a lot earlier than is strictly necessary.

"Come on im starving, Im staying for breakfast then Im due my well deserved nap" Niall finally sits up properly signalling to the waitress

"Fine but you're paying Mr I have a job"

"Okay fine but only cause I love you Lou" Niall chuckles

"yeah love you to Ni"

The thing is Louis really does mean it, he loves Zayn, Liam and Niall more than anyone he loved when he was alive, he probably would have had a mental breakdown if they hadn't have been there for him when he first died, finding out you're a Grim Reaper isn't exactly easy on the mind.

  
-

Tottenham Court Road isn't exactly small but Louis has been doing this reaping thing for long enough now to know what he's doing, and he has three simple steps.

  
1\. Always looking out for gravelings

2\. Look for any immediate accidents waiting to happen

3\. If nothing else works just take to shouting out their name

  
Lucky for him today is an easy one, with a knife juggler stood outside the Dominion Theatre its not hard to guess whats going to happen. Especially when he has a sign next to him stating "JJ Joyce the amazing knife juggler"

Louis likes the easy jobs, it means less time hanging around waiting on death. 

Niall and Liam are right talking is his thing, and sometimes he has to use that to his advantage when it comes to reaping. He waits for the audience to die a bit, and watches as JJ Joyce takes a break from the poor excuses that he call knife throwing.

"hey so how old are you?" Louis asks getting JJ's attention

"17" JJ replies without looking up at him

"So how long have you been doing this?"

"Two weeks" he grumbles out

Well no wonder your about to fucking die.

"Wow okay good luck then" Louis chuckles giving JJ a light slap on the back

Thats all it takes, something that looks like a simple exchange between to guys when in reality Louis is reaping his soul. It's the easier part of the job. The harder part is having to deal with the soul afterwards, some go easily they just accept their fate, others put up a fight demand its not their time, but the worst are the lurkers.  
They're the ones who struggle to move on, there's something keeping them there, 98% are what would be considered as ghosts but theres a select few who are different they're undead like the reapers but without the ability to reap souls, no one really has a name for them, they tend to just stick with lurker, after all they're so rare no one really bothers with them.

Lucky for Louis JJ is an easy one.

"Why didn't I feel anything" he asks staring down at his own body

Louis has never got why they did that, especially with cases like this, he cant imagine it feels too good to look down and see knife sticking out of your head.

"Thats my job reap your soul before you die so you don't feel any pain" Louis doesn't even need to think of an answer anymore, its a question they get a lot  
"So whats the afterlife like?" JJ asks Louis tearing his eyes from his own body long enough to actually look at Louis.

"Wouldn't know mate, where you're going is somewhere I won't ever be, but I can garuntee that you'll like it" Liam always says after death reasurence is just as big apart of being a reaper as actually taking the soul is.

"So thats it, im dead" Its not an unusual response, it takes a while for it to sink in for some people

"Im afraid so mate, come on i've got you" Louis sighs as he guides JJ away from his body, sometimes they just need a little help moving on.

It's times like this that Louis really hates his job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to pre warn you the next chapter will have major character deatg It won't be in a lot of detail, but I don't want it to be a trigger for Anyone.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been binge watching the TV series Dead Like Me and the dynamics between the characters just reminded me of the boys and somehow ended up writing this.


End file.
